Slicing machine



Jan., 2%? 11937. J, FOLK g@ SLICING MACHINE Filed'Aug. 17, 1955 5 sheets-sheet 1 Il i se/ |NVENTOR:

JOSEPH FOLK FIG. 2. BY @fx Qwwm ATT'YS.

Ham 26, 1937. J. FOLK SLICING MACHINE Filed Aug. 17, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

FIG. 6.

INVENTOR:

JOSEPH FOLK J. FOLK SLICING MACHINE Filed Aug. 17, 1955 Jan. 26, 1937.

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inn/ENTQR:d JOSEPH FOLK ATT'YS.

Patented Jan. 26, 1937 till stares FATENT QFFHCE SLICING MACHINE Application August 17 i 5 claims.

The present invention relates to slicing machines in which the substance is fed along a substance support by a pusher plate which engages the rear end of the substance and feeds the same toward the cutting plane of the knife.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel drive means for actuating both the knife and carriage manually and includes means which gives a rather direct actuation to the slic ing knife and substance supporting table without interfering with the operation of the same, and without increasing materially, at least, the over-all dimensions of the machine.

Another object of this invention is to provide a slicing machine which is manually operated by means which imparts a rotation to the knife during the slicing operation and also moves the substance support relative to the knife simultai'ieously with the actuation of the knife.

Other objects of this inventionwill appear hereinafter as the description thereof proceeds, the novel features, arrangements, and combinations being clearly set forth in the specification and claims hereto appended.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of a slicing machine embodying my invention with parts thereof broken away for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan of the slicing machine shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is av section taken along the line 5 5 of Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially along the lise 5 5 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a section taken substantially along the ."ne 1 1 of Fig. l;

S is a 'vertical cross-section taken through the substance supporting table substantially along the line 8 8 of Fig. 7 but with the pusher plate and substance supporting plate of the carriage shown therein; and

Fig. 9 is a view showing the manner in which the pusher plate is used to feed the substance along the substance supporting table.

lin the drawings, the reference character I vindicates the base of a slicing machine having guide rods ii and I2 supported thereon in parallei relation and upon which the carriage base member I3 of the slicing machine table is slidably mounted for reciprocation past a slicing .knife ie arranged along one side of the path of 1933, Serial No. 685,513

(Ci. 14S-102) reciprocation of the slicing machine carriage. A gauge plate I such as is common in machines of this character is mounted for movement in a direction perpendicular to the cutting plane of the knife through successive positions, all of which are substantially parallel to the cutting plane. This adjustment is controlled by a knob I6 which actuates certain mechanism which is more fully described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 637,246, filed October 11, 1932 which became Patent 2,004,603 on June 11, 1935.

The substance supporting table has the upper surface thereof formed by a plate Il secured to the carriage base member I3 and it will be noted that this plate I1 is in the shape of a V-shaped trough extending substantially perpendicularly to the cutting plane of the knife. Extending substantially perpendicularly to the cutting plane of the knife is a shaft I8 to Which there is secured a lever I9, the upper end of which is pivoted at to a link 2| which link in turn is pivoted at 22 to an extension 23 on the carriage base` member I3 so that upon oscillation of the lever I about its pivot, reciprocating movement of the carriage along the guides II and I2 is effected. The lower end of the lever I9 is pivoted at 24 to a link 25 connected to an arm 26 on a transverse shaft 21, a portion of which extends outside the frame IB. To this portion of the shaft 21 there is secured an angularly bent arm 28 having an operating handle 29 thereon which handle is adapted to be manually grasped by the operator. Upon movement of the handle 29, back and forth, to and from the operators position, which is at the left in Fig. 1, oscillation of the lever I9 is effected through the link 25 and as a result the carriage is reciprocated. The arm 28 carries an extension 8l which in turn carries a laterally extending pin I9 adapted to move into the recesses Bil and abut against the bottom o-f the same as the arm 28 is moved to its extreme positions to prevent the shaft 21 from being rotated too far in either direction.

Also secured to the shaft I 8 is a segmental gear 30 meshing with a gear 3| secured to a shaft 32 also rotatably mounted on bearings in the base IIl and extending parallel to the shaft I8. As is more clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the shaft 32 extends past the cutting plane of the knife and carries a sprocket 33 which has one way driving connection with the shaft, this being shown most clearly in Figs. 5 and 6, and comprising rollers 88 operating in tapered slots 35 in the hub of the sprocket 33, the rollers 34 contacting also with the shaft 32 and being of a diameter greater than the smallest dimension of the slots 35. Thus upon rotation of the shaft 32 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 6 in which direction it is rotated upon movement of the handle 29 to the right in Fig. 1, the rollers 34 are caused to move into the narrower portions of the slots 35 and cause a gripping engagement between the shaft 32 and sprocket 33 to positively drive the same. A chain 36 is trained over the sprocket 33 and a, sprocket 31 on the knife shaft 38 so that during the working stroke of the substance carriage, the knife is positively driven. On reverse movement of the handle 29 to the left in Fig. l, the rollers 34 move into the Wider portions of the slots 35 and the sprocket continues to rotate in the direction indicated in Fig. 6 under the inertia forces in the sprocket chain, knife, etc. A washer 39 secured to the end of the shaft 32 holds the sprocket 33 against longitudinal shifting movement on the shaft 32.

With the connections just described, it will be noted that a positive and powerful drive tov the knife is made possible, in view of the long leverage of the angularly bent arm 28 and the direct connections between the angularly bent arm and the knife and carriage. It also should be noted that in view of the fact the shaft 21 is placed considerably to the left of the shaft I8 as viewed in Fig. 1, the angular portion of the arm 28 will not, when in its extreme right hand position, extend beyond the end of the slicing machine base so that it does not increase the over-all dimensions of the same. At the same time, the angularly bent portion provides clearance for the substance carriage in all positions thereof and does not interfere with the movement of the substance carriage.

I shall next describe the means for feeding the substance along the substance supporting plate I1. In Fig. '1, the plate l1 has been removed and the mechanism on the interior of the hollow carriage base member I3 is revealed. This mechanism comprises a bearing member 4i! slidable along a guide rod 4I secured at its ends within suitable bearings on the carriage and provided at 42 with spacing washers which determine the amount which the bearing 49 will move toward the cutting plane of the knife. Secured to the bearing member 40 is an angularly bent arm 43 which extends through a slot 44 and upwardly along one side of the substance supporting plate l1. See particularly Fig. 8. The edge 45 of the plate l1 is turned outwardly as is clearly illustrated in Fig. 9 and this acts as a guide in addition to the guide 4I for guiding the bearing member 40 along its path of travel to and from the cutting plane of the knife. The upwardly extending portion 46 of the angularly bent arm 43 extends upwardly adjacent the edge 45 and carries two bolts 41 and 48 held in place thereon by the lock nuts 49 and 5G respectively. The head 5I of the bolt 41 engages the under side of the edge 45 and a washer 52 arranged about the enlarged shank of the bolt 48 engages or is spaced from the head 5| just slightly more than the thickness of the edge 45 so that the head 5i and Washer 52 act as guiding members for the angularly bent arm 43 and bearing member 49. This arrangement makes it unnecessary to provide special guides for preventing turning movement of the bearing member 40 about the guide rod 4|.

The bolt 48 also carries a supporting arm 53 for the pusher plate 54. The arm 53 has a lateral extension 55 at right angles to the portion of the arm which engages the pusher plate 54 and this extension 55 has an opening therein through which the bolt 4B extends and the arm may be swung about the bolt 48 as a pivot at various selected angular positions within a limit of approximately 90. The pivotal movement of the arm and consequently the pusher plate 54 is limited by a stop 56 on the extension 55 which engages one or the other of the stops 51 formed as shoulders on the portion 46 of the arm 43 as is clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 9. A friction washer 18 holds the arm 53 and pusher plate 54 in adjusted angular position. It will be noticed that the extension 55 is sufficiently to the rear of the rear abutment of the substance supporting plate so as not to be engaged by the substance when the substance is on said plate, whereby the angular movement of the arm 53 is not interfered with by the substance.

The pusher plate 54 has a series of prongs 58 protruding from one side thereof and preferably struck up from the pusher plate. These prongs may be struck up from the plate 54 so as to protrude from opposite sides of the plate instead of from one side as shown in the drawings, whereby when the pusher plate is in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 9, there will be prongs facing the cutting plane of the knife as Well as when the pusher plate is in the full line position shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 9. Also the lower edge of the plate 54 when in the position shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 9 is serrated to form the prongs 5S which are bent laterally in opposite directions away from the plane of the plate with alternate ones of the prongs extending to different sides of the plate. These prongs could of course be formed on the opposite edge of the plate if desired.

When feeding a relatively low substance such as a slab of bacon, the pusher plate may be used in the manner illustrated in Fig. 9 by bringing the same into engagement with the upper side of the slab of bacon or other substance. The feeding movement of the bearing member 40 will then cause forward movement of the substance toward the cutting plane of the knife and against the gauge plate i5 in a manner which is well understood in the art to which this invention pertains.

Of course with the plate 54 tilted to the position shown in Fig. 9, the prongs 59 extend a greater distance toward the cutting plane of the knife than they would if the plate were in a vertical position such as shown in Fig. 2, considering that the bearing member 4l) is at the same position with respect to the cutting plane of the knife and therefore if the movement of the bearing member were sufcient to bring the pusher plate 54 to the full line position shown in Fig. 2 with the prongs Very close to the cutting plane of the knife, a pivotal movement of the plate 54 would cause the prongs 59 to move past the cutting plane of the knife which is not to be desired inasmuch as the reciprocating movement of the table would then cause the plate to strike the knife. Therefore, I provide means for preventing at all times the movement of any part of the pusher plate past or even into the cutting plane of the knife so that in all positions of the pusher plate, the same will lie to the side of the cutting plane on which the substance support is arranged. This means is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 9 and comprises a cam member 60 secured by means of screws 3l to the upwardly extending side of the plate I1 and this cam member has a curved cam surface 62 and a notch 63, the upper edge of which is slightly inclined to a horizontal plane and the lower edge of which is inclined materially in a downward direction. Since this latter edge, however, does not have any function, its shape is not material and it is only necessary that it provide sufficient clearance for other parts of the mechanism. The extension of the arm 53 carries a second pin B4 on the same side thereof as the pin 5G, and if the pusher plate is in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2 or the full line position shown in Fig. 2, the pin S4 will strike the cam surface t2 to stop the forward movement of the bearing member 59 and of the pusher plate at a point in the path of travel of the bearing member such that the prongs 59 will still be in a position clear of the cutting plane of the knife as is clearly illustrated in Fig, 2 by the dotted line position of the parts. Therefore the cam t2 automatically takes care of the movement of the bearing member when the pusher plate has been tilted from a vertical position. In case the pusher plate is in a vertical position or substantially in a vertical position, the pin 84 is permitted to enter the notch 53 and have its full permitted amount of forward movement as determined by the washers l2 shown in Fig. 'l or alternatively the pin 66 may engage the bottom of the slot to limit the forward movement of the pusher plate and bearing member. Of course when the pusher plate is in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 9, the same cannot have a sufficient amount of movement toward the cutting plane of the knife to cause any damage even if the pusher plate is tilted slightly at an angle to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 9.

In order to secure a more uniform feeding of the pusher plate and bearing member, I provide a novel spring feed which acts more uniformly than previous spring feeds devised for this purpose. Its construction is quite clear from an inspection of Figs. 7 and 8. In these figures, it will be noted that there is a pin 65 which is secured to the carriage base member i3 and this pin rotatably carries a pulley 56. Additional pulleys el are rotatably mounted on the pins $8 also secured to the carriage base member I3. A spring 69 has the free ends thereof 'ill formed with hooks which hook over the lugs 'il on the bear ing member lil and the spring is trained over the pulleys 6l and 69 in the manner which is quite clear from an inspection of Fig, '7. The spring is placed under an initial tension and the action of the spring is to move the bearing member '59 in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 7. Due to the pulleys 66 and 8l, a rather long spring may be used and therefore the amount of stretch in the spring per unit length is less than a single spring which might be used to feed the bearing member de forwardly in the manner such as set forth in my co-pending application, Serial No. 633,594, led September 17, i932. With the construction shown in that application, a spring surrounds the guide rod il and is compressed upon movement of the bearing member 49 to its eXtreme retracted position. With the arrangement shown in this application, since the stretch of a unit length of spring is decreased, the pressure with which the bearing member is urged toward the cutting plane does not decrease materially as the bearing member approaches the cutting plane of the knife as in the case where a short spring is used. Therefore there is more uniform feeding of the pusher' plate and consequently of the substance.

In order that the pusher plate may be held in its retracted position to facilitate the placing of a substance on the carriage, I provide an operating handle l2 secured to the bearing member 3E as is clearly indicated in Fig. 8 and this handle extends through a slot 73 in the carriage base member i3 and toward the operators position. By grasping the handle "l2, the carriage may be retracted and when in fully retracted position, a latch member it', pivoted at l5 to the carriage base member i3 hooks over the handle 'l2 and holds the bearing member d@ retracted. The latch member lli is provided with a forward cam face 'l which engages the handle 'l2 during the retracted movement thereof and raises the latch until the handle reaches the position shown in Hg. 3 after which it drops down into the posi tion indicated in that gure. A pin 'il extends laterally from the latch lll into an opening it in the carriage base member i3 and this limits the swinging movement of the latch l so that it will not drop downwardly too far when the bearing member is in a position such that the handle l2 does not engage the latch. rhus the cam surface l5 on the latch is in a position to engage the handle l2 when iAhe bearing is retracted. Other latch means may be provided for this purpose but that shown is very simple in its operation and may be quickly moved by manual pressure applied thereto to inoperative position when it is desired to have the spring 99 feed the bearing member and pusher plate toward the cutting plane of the knife.

The operation of this device, briefly, is as follows: The operator, when desiring to slice a long substance, places the substance on the plate ll in which position of the substance the rear end thereof is at a position which cannot be reached by the forward face of the pusher plate 565 when the same is in a position to the left of the pivot ifi thereof as viewed in Fig. 9, even though the bearing member i9 is in its fully retracted posi tion, and therefore the operator swings the pusher plate to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 9 in which position the other face of the pusher plate lies to the rear of the substance, and upon release of the latch member lli, the spring 69 feeds the bearing member if? and pusher plate 5d toward the cutting plane of the knife. When sufficient slices have been out from the substance to permit the forward side of the pusher plate to be used, the feeding may be stopped and the pusher plate retracted and swung to the normally operative position thereof to the left of the pivot fili in Fig. 9, whereafter the pusher plate may feed the substance until practically the entire substance has been sliced.

In the event that the pusher plate occupies an angular position as indicated by .full lines in Fig. 9, the cam member 59 will prevent any part of the pusher plate from being moved into or past the cutting plane of the knife and therefore the pusher plate will not strike the knife during the reciprocation of the carriage. lf the pusher plate is in the vertical position, which` it is permitted to occupy, the washers l2 limit the movement of the bearing member and consequently of the pusher plate to such an extent that no portion of the pusher plate will enter or pass the cutting plane of the knife.

The long leverage of the bent arm provides a very powerful actuating means for the knife and yet does not increase materially the overall dimensions of the slicing machine or interfere with the substance on the substance supporting carriage or with other parts of the slicing machine. Ihe direct connections between the operating arm 28 and the carriage and knife eliminate a great amount of fricticnal resistance and make the machine easier to operate. The slicing knife is always positively actuated during the forward movement of the carriage I3 and continues under the inertia forces to rotate until the next positive actuation of the knife on the next succeeding forward movement of the carriage I3. In slicing successive slices, the movements of the operating handle generally occur in rapid succession so that there is an uninterrupted movement of the knife I4 even though it may slow down somewhat during the return movement of the carriage.

The spring mechanism for operating the pusher plate and the food pusher herein shown is claimed in applicants co-pending application, Serial No. 7,325, led February 20, 1935.

Obviously those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains may make various changes in the particular construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of this invention and therefore I do not wish to be limited except as hereinafter set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to obtain by Letters Patent is:

l.. In a slicing machine, the combination with a slicing knife, of a substance support mounted for reciprocation past said knife in a direction substantially parallel to the cutting plane thereof, said knife being rotatable about an axis substantially perpendicular to the path of reciprocation of said support, an operating shaft extending substantially parallel to the axis of said knife, a driving connection between said shaft and said knife for actuating said knife when said shaft is moved in one direction but not when said shaft is moved in the opposite direction, means for rocking said shaft in opposite directions to impart rotation to said knife in one direction, comprising a gear mounted on a jack shaft substantially parallel with said operating shaft and having a gear meshing with a gear on said operating shaft, a lever secured to said jack shaft for rocking said jack shaft, a link connecting one end of said lever with said substance support, and lying in a plane substantially parallel to the cutting plane of said knife, an operating arm pivotally mounted cn a fixed support, said arm being angularly bent intermediate the ends thereof and having its pivotal connection with said xed Support substeI niially midway of and below the path of reciprocation of said substance support with the free end of said angularly bent arm extending upwardly above the path of reciprocation of said support for manual operation by the operator but clear of the subst-ance support in all positions thereof along its path of reciprocation.

2. In a slicing machine, the combination with a frame, a substance support slidable along said frame, a rotatable knife adjacent the path of reciprocation of said substance support, an operating arm pivoted about a substantially horizontal axis extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane of said knife, said arm extending upwardly along the side of the substance support in a direction away from the operators position and then angularly toward the operators position, the pivot for said arm being at the side of the frame beneath the path of reciprocation of said substance support and intermediate the ends of the path of reciprocation of said support, and operative driving connections from said arm to said knife and support for rotating said knife in one direction only and for reciprocating said support upon movement of said arm about its pivot.

3. In a slicing machine, the combination with a frame, a substance support movable along said frame in a rectilinear path, a rotatable knife adjacent the path of reciprocation of said substance support, an oscillatory mounted operating arm pivoted about a substantially horizontal axis extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane of Said knife, said arm extending upwardly along the side of the substance support in a direction away from the operators position, the pivot for said arm being located at the side of the frame beneath the path of reciprocation of said substance support and lying substantially midway between the ends of the path of reciprocation of the substance support, and operative driving connections from said arm to said knife and support for rotating said knife in one direction only and for reciprocating said support upon movement of said arm about its pivot, the portion of said arm between the angularly bent portion thereof and said pivot moving from a position which is substantially horizontal when said support is at its position along its path which lies farthest from the operators position, the other portion of said arm when in said last-mentioned position extending substantially vertically and clear of the path of movement of said support.

4. A slicing machine comprising a base, a carriage slidingly supported by said base, said carriage having a substance support, means for reciprocating the carriage, a stationary rotatably mounted knife operatively supported by said base, an operating lever pivoted to said base on an axis beneath the path of the carriage perpendicular to the cutting plane of the knife, and means operatively connected to the operating lever and to said knife causing rotation of said knife during oscillation of the operating lever, said operating lever comprising two portions, the lower portion extending upwardly and rearwardly in the normal path of the substance support and the upper portion extending upwardly and forwardly to a point readily accessible to the operator, whereby the lower portion of the operating lever will move downwardly out of the path of the substance support as it is reciprocated rearwardly.

5. A slicing machine comprising a base, a carriage slidingly supported by said base, said carriage having a substance support, means for reciprocating the carriage, a stationary rotatably mounted knife operatively supported by said base, means for rotating the knife, an operating lever pivoted to said base on an axis beneath the path of the carriage and perpendicular to the cutting plane of the knife, said operating lever comprising two portions, the lower portion extending upwardly and rearwardly in the normal path of the substance support and the upper portion extending upwardly and forwardly to a point readily accessible to the operator, whereby the lower portion of the operating lever will move downwardly out of the path of the substance support as it is reciprocated rearwardly.

JOSEPH FOLK. 

